The purpose of the Semmering Forums, which are funded by the European Commission, is to bring together experts involved in the study of research policies and to discuss the variety of theoretical and methodological approaches underlying empirical studies. Additionally the Forums are intended to facilitate interaction between researchers and policy-makers with the purpose of considering appropriate ways in which the experience and expertise in this field can be consolidated and fed into policy debates and structures, both within national and European settings.
The specific objectives of Semmering are to increase the knowledge of the European dimension in S&T policies, to assess and compare the efficiency of S&T policy instruments and evaluate them, and to promote the European integration of the S&T sectors by examining the role of networks.
The
nexus Institute for Cooperation Management and Interdisciplinary Research is one of six international partners. The project is coordinated by
ICCR, Vienna (The Interdisciplinary Centre for Comparative Research in the Social Sciences)